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Feminism Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the public sphere?

A

The world of work, politics and culture, where society’s ideas and goals are formed

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2
Q

Origins of feminism

A
  • Around the time of the industrial revolution
  • Liberal feminists such as Wollstonecraft wanted society to see women as rational and capable
  • Women wanted basic rights and formal equality
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3
Q

Three waves of feminism

A
  1. Liberal feminism
  2. Marxist/radical feminism
  3. Post-modern feminism
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4
Q

Key aspects of liberal feminism

A
  • Women are as rational and capable as men
  • Women should have the same education as men to give them more autonomy
  • Discrimination against women should end
  • This could be done as long as women were enfranchised
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5
Q

What do many modern liberal feminists support?

A

Affirmative action is necessary to ensure women have equal opportunities to men

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6
Q

Example of positive discrimination towards women in the UK/US

A

UK: use of all-women shortlists by the Labour party
US: gender was added to affirmative action policies in 1967

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7
Q

Key work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A

Women and Economics (1898)

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8
Q

What is an androcentric society?

A

A society which only represents male perspectives

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9
Q

How did Perkins view the role of women in society?

A
  • Men had created a society where women were ‘locked to their homes’.
  • This society is created and is not a result of nature or biology.
  • She saw society as androcentric
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10
Q

How did Perkins view human nature?

A

She suggested that women and men are ‘the same within’

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11
Q

What social programmes did Perkins suggest would improve women’s opportunities?

A
  • Centralised nurseries
  • Cooperative kitchens
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12
Q

Difference between Marxist and liberal feminists

A

Liberal feminists see discrimination as the main problem in society, whereas Marxist feminists suggest it is instead capitalism

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13
Q

What evidence do Marxist feminists provide to suggest that under capitalism, women are viewed as property?

A
  • Women take the man’s surname
  • The line of descent passes through men
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14
Q

What is reproductive labour?

A

Unpaid labour done by women in the home, such as cooking and cleaning, as well as bearing and raising children

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15
Q

How do Marxist feminists argue that a socialist revolution will end female oppression?

A

As men and women would be economically equal in a socialist society (due to common ownership), marriage was no longer based on economic relations.

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16
Q

What do radical feminists argue is the root cause of all oppression?

A

The patriarchy

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17
Q

What is the patriarchy?

A

A system of control in society where men dominate and exploit women

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18
Q

Why do radical feminists argue that a socialist revolution will not end the patriarchy?

A

Women were discriminated against throughout history, before capitalism

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19
Q

What is the private sphere?

A

The family, the home and the body - unregulated by the state

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20
Q

‘The personal is the political’

A

Radical feminists argue that issues in the private sphere have been ignored yet they are key to female oppression

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21
Q

How do radical feminists view gender?

A
  • They accept men and women have biological differences
  • Gender itself is a social construct, where women are expected to fill the role that men have created for them
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22
Q

Key work of Simone de Beauvoir

A

The Second Sex (1949)

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23
Q

What is existentialism?

A

Humans have no nature but use their freedom to create themselves through their own actions

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24
Q

De Beauvoir’s theory of the ‘Self and Other’

A

Men see themselves as the Self and see women as the Other, therefore a threat to them

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25
Q

What did de Beauvoir argue about femininity?

A
  • It has to be a myth as humans have no inherent nature or essence (existentialism)
  • Women are socialised to become feminine through male-constructed ideas - “one is not born, but rather becomes a woman”
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26
Q

What 4 suggestions did de Beauvoir have for a more equal society?

A
  • Women should work
  • Women should become intellectuals
  • Women should exercise their sexuality as they see fit
  • Women must seek economic justice in a socialist society
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27
Q

What is the difference between equality and difference feminists?

A

Equality: Aim of feminism is to have equality between men and women

Difference: See women and men as biologically different and society should better accommodate these differences

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28
Q

Example of a difference feminist and their key work

A

Carol Gilligan
In a Different Voice (1982)

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29
Q

Explanation of equality feminism

A
  • See the patriarchy as a male imposed structure
  • By removing the patriarchy, men and women can have sexual equality
30
Q

Explanation of difference feminism

A
  • Clear biological differences between men and women matter
  • Equality feminism promotes the idea that women should be more like men, which difference feminists oppose
  • Women should create a woman-based culture where society revolves around their values
31
Q

What is cultural feminism?

A

The formation of a new culture based on feminine traits such as peacefulness and nurture

32
Q

What is separatist feminism?

A

Political and sexual inequalities between men and women cannot be resolved so heterosexual relationships should be opposed and women should all live together

33
Q

Key work of Kate Millett

A

Sexual Politics (1970)

34
Q

What type of feminist is Kate Millett?

A

Radical

35
Q

How did Kate Millett view marriage?

A

An exchange of female domestic services and sex in return for financial support

36
Q

How did Millett view society?

A
  • The patriarchy is present throughout society, in all aspects including education and religion
  • The key institution of this patriarchy is the family structure
37
Q

How did Millett suggest the patriarchy could be overturned?

A

A sexual revolution

38
Q

Features of Millett’s sexual revolution

A
  • End of sexual taboo
  • End of the family unit as it socialises the patriarchy
  • Full economic independence for women
  • Re-examination of masculine and feminine gender roles
39
Q

Key socialist feminist

A

Shelia Rowbotham

40
Q

Features of socialist feminism

A
  • Women’s work is unpaid particularly in the home
  • Women in the workforce often earn less than their male counterparts
  • Propaganda makes this system appear ‘natural’
  • Reform will never be enough to end patriarchy or capitalism so both should be tackled through revolutionary means
41
Q

Key work of Shelia Rowbotham

A

Women’s Consciousness, Man’s World (1973)

42
Q

What is Rowbotham’s evidence that capitalism and patriarchy are linked?

A

Many societies which are not Western capitalist ones do not have a patriarchy, or at least not to the same extent

43
Q

How does Rowbotham argue that capitalism oppresses women?

A
  • Men dominate top positions in employment, links to idea that men own women
  • Traditionally, men owned women through marriage
  • Women are unable to reach top employment roles as they have to fulfill domestic duties
44
Q

What is intersectionality?

A

The idea that women are not just oppressed based on their gender but based on other factors such as race, gender and class

45
Q

Features of postmodern feminism

A
  • Intersectionality
  • No single explanation for the oppression of women as different women face oppression in different ways
  • Many argue that previous feminist movements supported white, middle-class women
46
Q

Key work of bell hooks

A

Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (1981)

47
Q

Why was bell hooks critical of Betty Friedan?

A

She argued Friedan was too focused on enabling white middle-class women to further succeed and this ignored the issues other groups of women faced.

For example, Friedan was focused on enabling women to enter the workforce instead of having families, but this ignored other groups of women who were not able to have families in the first place.

48
Q

What was bell hooks’ answer to oppression?

A

For people to acknowledge all forms of oppression and work together to end them all

49
Q

What is post-feminism?

A

People who believe the original aims of the feminist movement have been achieved so now women should instead focus on celebrating their own achievements

50
Q

Where do most feminists agree in regards to human nature?

A
  • Biological differences are not relevant to the way women should be treated
  • Gender is a cultural not a biological construct
51
Q

How do liberal feminists view human nature?

A
  • Human nature is the same for men and women, both rational
  • All humans are of equal moral value so are entitled to formal equality
52
Q

How do Marxist feminists view human nature?

A

Gender roles are a part of the construct of capitalism and are conditioned to believe reproductive labour has no value

53
Q

How do radical feminists view human nature?

A

Gender roles are artificially constructed and imposed on women and women are conditioned to believe these are natural

54
Q

How do difference feminists view human nature?

A

Women and men are biologically different and equality is dangerous as it encourages women to be more like men

55
Q

How do postmodern feminists view human nature?

A
  • Gender roles are imposed on women by society
  • Intersectionality and women have diverse characteristics and so not all women have similar human nature
56
Q

Where do feminists agree in terms of the state?

A
  • The state has historically been complicit in women being subordinate to men
  • The state could be used to enhance women’s positions in society
57
Q

How do liberal feminists view the state?

A
  • The state can provide formal equality to women
  • Some feminists (Friedan) believe the state could go further through affirmative action
58
Q

How do radical/socialist feminists view the state?

A
  • Gradual reforms by the state are not enough to tackle gender inequality
  • The state needs to take drastic reforms (e.g. Millett argued for the end of pornography)
  • Some revolutionary feminists argue for the end of the current state and a state run by women to be introduced
59
Q

Where do feminists agree in terms of society?

A

Society has placed women in a subordinate role where they suffer institutionalised disadvantages

60
Q

What are separatist feminists?

A

Feminists who argue for creating a society where men and women live separately

61
Q

How do liberal feminists view society?

A
  • Society has failed to accept women as rational
  • Society fails to facilitate women from achieving, e.g. through a lack of education
  • This has created an androcentric society
62
Q

How do second and third wave feminists view society?

A
  • Women’s subordinate role is a result of the patriarchy
  • There should be a revolution which overthrows patriarchy
63
Q

How do radical feminists view society?

A
  • The patriarchy is pervasive across the whole of society including education and the media
  • de Beauvoir in particular examined how women were seen as the ‘Other’ in society and expected to fit in a culture created by men
64
Q

How do postmodern feminists view society?

A

Society is made of many systems of oppression including the patriarchy

65
Q

Where do feminists agree in terms of the economy?

A
  • Women are subordinate to men in the economic sphere (e.g. gender pay gap)
  • Women should be economically independent from men
66
Q

How do liberal feminists view the economy?

A
  • Biological differences were insignificant in regards to the economy
  • There should be equality of opportunity in the labour market
67
Q

How did Rowbotham view the economy?

A
  • Women were oppressed by capitalism because they are a cheap source of labour
  • They are also exploited in the home through unpaid reproductive labour
68
Q

Key debate: public vs private sphere

A

Public sphere: Liberal feminists see discrimination in the public sphere yet they do not wish to challenge the private sphere as this is outside of the state’s juristiction

Private sphere: Radical feminists see the personal as the political, the patriarchy is passed through generations through social conditioning in the home

69
Q

Key debate: difference vs equality feminists

A

Difference feminists: Reject androgyny instead arguing that the biological differences between men and women should be acknowledged and women should not try to be like men

Equality feminists: See biological differences as insignificant to how women should be treated and that gender is a social construct

70
Q

Key debate: reform or revolution

A

Reform: Liberal feminists want to grant formal equality to all through legal changes which empower women economically

Revolution: Radical feminists see the patriarchy as deep rooted in society which must be completely uprooted through restructuring society in a sexual revolution

71
Q

Is feminism a single doctrine?

A

YES - feminists all have the same goal, which is a more equal society for men and women. They all see women as subordinate and simply have different methods as to how to change this.

NO - Many liberal feminists see equality as being achieved, while radical and socialist feminists demand drastic changes to society

Gov & Politics (23 decks)

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